I am picking up a new prius on thursday.. and its going to be used as my new taxi My question is the footbrake.. as i am in and out of my cab i usually put the handbrake on as you do.. whats the deal with the prius can i just use the parking brake.. when i drop of passengers and exit the car.. or do i have to use footbrake and parking all the time.. thanks.. had i couple of test drive in the new prius seems a nice drive,, we post my thoughts on the prius over time.. beings as i will be working it 8+hours a day in a congested city
When you stop with a "normal" car, do you put the gear into neutral? That is the equivalent of moving the "joystick" to N or P. The Prius footbrake is the equivalent of a normal handbrake. I would never get out of the car and leave it in D.
I just use park when stopping for a short period of time on flat ground. And use the foot brake on hills and for longer stops.
Selecting Park locks the transmission (a pawl is moved into place, locking the transmission), so foot brake is not required. The wheels will not turn after the pawl locks it into place. This is why when you select park on a slope, the car will move a little until the pawl locks into place. And this is also why you feel a THUD when selecting R or D again as the pawl has to overcome the weight of the car as it is retracted out of the locked position.
What I usually do if on a slope is push the foot brake first, and then put the car in park. This keeps the pawl from having to overcome the weight of the car when selecting R or D.
Yeah - I use P all the time. I also use it when stopped at traffic lights if I know there'll be a reasonable wait (avoids blinding those behind with brake lights!) Only use the foot brake when leaving the car parked up - and even then only when out and about - I don't bother when it's in our garage.
